NEW YORK -- Stocks rose modestly today amid some encouraging profit reports and optimism that tomorrow's report on wholesale prices will confirm the encouraging inflation outlook. Dow gains 44
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 44.33 points to 7,886.76. The blue-chip barometer had turned lower around midday, surrendering an early 45-point gain spurred by better-than-expected second-quarter reports from General Electric and J.P. Morgan & Co.
Advancers led decliners by a 5-to-3 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,784 up, 1,059 down and 557 unchanged. NYSE volume was 551.27 million shares vs. 589.08 million yesterday.
Broader stock measures also recovered in the afternoon after giving back some early gains. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock list rose 6.24 to 913.78, and the NYSE index rose 3.24 to 476.27.
The Nasdaq index rose up 4.30 to 1,490.93, for its sixth straight close. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 1.75 to 399.15, also a record. The American Stock Exchange composite index rose 0.68 to 631.70.
Meanwhile, the price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was down 1/32 point while its yield was steady at 6.56 percent.
In a sign that upward pressure on wages -- and prices -- may be easing, the Labor Department today reported that the number of American workers filing first-time claims for jobless benefits shot up by 40,000 last week to the highest level in more than a year.
The data provided more ammunition to justify the Federal Reserve's decision last week not to slow the economy by raising the central bank's interest rates.